SEGA GENESIS / Mega Drive - Getting the Right Cartridge PCB?

[@racer4200]

I've also used sports games a donor PCBs. Good option for SRAM games. But there is a lot of testing to see which game will support which sports PCB.

[@GadgetUK164]

Excellent! I learnt a few things watching that!!! Great comparison!

[@GameTechRefuge]

Cheers Gadget. Been working on this video for a bit. Fingers crossed it points others in the right direction.

[@mattfire8579]

Can you use sega genesis cartridge game chips from a board with bad contacts as a replacement?

[@GameTechRefuge]

Yes, it's a great use for replacment PCB. If you know the size of the ROM file and the pin count of the original IC, you can easily transplant the chip over.

[@VladiFx]

very detailed video, thanks again! I have a lot of pcb-s from mr tentacle. It is rev2, i bought them in discount prise. :D I usually have issues with putting eproms in pace. Those small legs... annoying. Do you have any hints, how to do it easy?

[@GameTechRefuge]

My advice is to make sure all the pins are straight. Then place the chip on it's side, on a flat table then slowly and gently, roll the chip . Slightly bending the legs only a little. Check to see if it fits. If not, repeat. Be very gentle and only bend the pins a little each time. Hope this helps :)

[@martinsamuelsson2322]

Excellent video, good deep pcb dive :D

[@GameTechRefuge]

Thanks Martin! Might do a follow up video, a year or two from now. Shame I didn't cover how to identify Hard Gold Fingers. René article covers this well, I fear most people ( myself included ) dont always take the time to check out the links in the description :)

[@martinsamuelsson2322]

@@GameTechRefuge I've sent out emails to the manufacturers that I have used in the past, still waiting for replies from one but it seems like that they don't offer hard gold at all, seems strange to me

[@TheHighlander71]

This has been a very useful video for me because I'm just getting into burning roms. It's not as straightforward as it seems, this eprom business.

[@GameTechRefuge]

Great to hear!

[@brickedoutnz]

Hey just wondering about the HDRetrovision pcbs you got printed, ive used boards from Second Dimension which is very similar to the Muramasa boards. With those you have the solider point to bridge depending on whether you use the 27c160 or 27c322, my question is do the hdretrovision support something similar where i can just use the 27c322 eprom and fill the rest or do i need to use the exact chip for the game size?

[@GameTechRefuge]

Hi BrickedOut. Yes the the HDretrovision boards have the jumper on the back. They should work the same. Might try the Second Dimension boards in the future.

[@brickedoutnz]

Do the retrovision boards require the capacitors to run? i burnt some games onto 27c322 eproms without caps (some new pcbs dont require caps) and solder'd the r1 jumper on the back, and it didnt work, so i unsoldered the r1 jumper and it worked, but some of image was jumbled. These are a cheaper option over murumasa or second dimension boards for me, which after contacting all suppliers all 3 of those have the ENIG pins, so i dont know if anyone does the hard gold contacts :( Do you have any suggestions on getting the retrovision boards working well? Thanks!

[@GameTechRefuge]

The cart should run fine without the electrolytic caps. It's probably better to have at least one electrolytic on there for some bulk capacitance onboard. Just to ensure a solid supply to the circuit. You can get away without the electrolytic but I would defiantly install the ceramic 0.1uF at C3. R1 jumper is for the smaller EPROMs, R2 I think is for the larger 27c322. ENIG is fine, most boards are going to use ENIG. Hard gold is best but the price of fabrication jumps allot. You need to order boards in super large amounts ( hundreds even ) for the price to make sense. ENIG should be fine, it's just not going to last as long as the original hard gold. As long as your not using HASIL finish, as it will ware out and will rub off on the cart slot pins eventually. Happy reproing!